1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new floatable portable seat device. More particularly, the invention relates to a new floatable portable seat device which holds a person in a sitting position while he is floating on the water to give him the appearance of sitting on the surface of the water.
Specifically, the invention provides a new type of floatable portable seat device for use by sportsmen while floating on a body of water which is easier to get into and which is much safer to operate and get into and which permits the person to have his arms free for fishing purposes. The new floatable portable seat device broadly comprises an inflatable tube possessing two terminal enclosed tube ends, which tube is discontinuous at at least one end point to provide the two terminal ends which can later be joined together to form a complete tubing, joining means at each of the tube ends adapted to bringing the tube ends together and temporarily locking the ends together, joining means at each of the tube ends adapted to attaching the tubing directly to the front end of the seat structure, an oversized seat structure attached directly to the bottom inside of the tubing near the part of the tubing opposite the tube ends and extending out from the bottom of the tubing to give support to the person sitting thereon so that the person is sitting near the surface of the water and has his arms free for fishing, and the seat is of such a size as to permit the tubing to be opened to allow the person to squeeze between the two tube ends and get inside the tubing and when the tube ends are closed together to provide a seat structure sufficient to hold a person in a sitting position near the surface of the water with his arms free for fishing and with openings in the seat to permit his legs to pass down under the tubing.
The invention further provides a method for using the above-described inflatable portable seat device, particularly for fishing purposes, which comprises inflating the said tubing with air pressure, placing the inflated tubing around the fisherman's waist by passing the body through the opening in the circular tubing, securing the two ends of the circular tubing together by the joining means at the said ends, and then joining the means at the front end of the seat structure with the joining means on the two said ends so as to provide a seat for the fisherman to hold him in a sitting position with openings in front of the seat to permit his legs to pass down under the tubing.
2. Prior Art
There is a growing interest in recreational fishing in the use of float tube fishing. Rather than use a boat, a person who wants to fish in a different manner will put on waterproof waders, with flippers on the feet to act as a means of propulsion and then climb into a circular floating device similar to an inflated rubber inner tube. This particular type of apparatus has a webbed seat or nylon canvas for the person to sit on and the position of the seat plus the floatation of the inflated tube will hold the person's upper body nearly out of the water while the legs rest down in the water. Examples of this include devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,687,452, 3,324,488, 2.894,270, 4,601,667 and 2,958,876.
The use of such float tubes requires a remarkable degree of skill and balance to get into and operate such a device due to the attached seat in the float tube surround a fully inflated circular tubing. This places a considerable limitation on the sport as only the most coordinated sportsman can use the tubes. They not only have to walk on land and shallow water with large and stiff flippers, but also have to perform a balancing act that is even more daring in the cold ice water as they try with all that equipment to put their legs from the top down into the openings in the tubing without falling over in the water.
Sommer-U.S. Pat. No. 1,598,457 discloses a chair for use by swimmers where the chair portion is attached by long straps to the tubing so that the person is sitting down in the water and is not free for fishing purposes.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a solution to the above difficulties and provide a new device which will greatly increase the use of the float tube by fishermen. It is a further object to provide a new float tube device, which is easier to get into and avoids the need for the balancing act required for the prior tubes. It is a further object to provide a new float tube which holds the person near the surface of the water and permits him to have his arms free for fishing. It is a further object to provide a much safer tube for use by fishermen. These and other objects will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof.